Ranked choice voting is a smart system for the Oscars to use after increasing its number of Best Picture nominees. It's not rewarding mediocrity, but at least making sure that the "passion vote" is backed up with a majority vote.

When Maine voters adopted ranked choice voting on November 8, 2016, the result was heralded as “hope for the future.” However, a recent controversial move in South Dakota demonstrates how politicians can react to reform with knee-jerk opposition, and some worry that at least some Maine legislators are seeking a way to delay, or even repeal, ranked choice voting - against the wishes of the people.

Wyoming State Senators Cale Case and Chris Rothfuss, along with Representative Dan Zwonitzer, recently filed a bill to move the state’s elections to “ranked pairs” voting. Rothfuss and Zwonitzer are also sponsors of a bill to establish a commission to study election issues, including alternative voting systems.

In the first election for state chair using a single, ranked choice voting ballot, the Iowa Democratic Party elected Derek Eadon from a crowded field of seven candidates. Ranked choice voting allowed the committee to efficiently elect Eadon with a majority of the vote and choose a candidate who seems to have earned consensus support from different factions within the party.

Building on the momentum of historic wins for ranked choice voting in Maine and Benton County, Oregon, lawmakers from Massachusetts to Hawaii have introduced bills that would expand its use in their states.

The decision by former DHS secretary Johnson has received equal parts praise and criticism. Given FairVote’s longstanding support for a constitutional right to vote, we wanted to examine Johnson’s designation.

Posted
on January 13, 2017

FairVote and Representation2020 hosted four Swarthmore students for a week-long externship where they get to be part of our team and learn how FairVote works. Here, Anna Garner, Anna Scheibmeir, Ava Shafiei and Morgin Goldberg reflect on their experiences and explain what drew them to our organization.